About

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (UTS) is an ecumenical graduate school of the United Church of Christ located in New Brighton, Minnesota, United States. The school was formed in 1960 with the merger of Mission House Seminary of Plymouth, Wisconsin, and Yankton School of Theology in Yankton, South Dakota.

Like the UCC itself, UTS reflects the merging of two denominational backgrounds: Mission House was related to the Evangelical and Reformed Church, while Yankton was one of the numerous schools affiliated with the Congregational Christian Churches. The UCC was formed from the merger of those two bodies, which took place between 1957 and 1961, and UTS was the premier institutional expression of that landmark in ecumenical relations among American Protestants. Despite being formally affiliated with the UCC, the UTS charter states that the school is ecumenical, independent, and multi-denominational. Nonetheless, this is in keeping with the generally liberal, tolerant stands of the UCC tradition.

UTS offers degrees in Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Religious Leadership, and Doctor of Ministry. The school emphasizes racial justice with the Certificate in Leadership toward Racial Justice and focuses on the importance of theology and the arts with its M.A. in Religion and the Arts. UTS also hosts the annual Summer Institute in Spirituality and the Arts and publishes Arts Journal which is devoted to the study of the arts and theology.

Bigelow Chapel

In 2004 UTS consecrated the Bigelow Chapel as an addition to the campus. The chapel, designed by Joan Soranno and John Cook of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc., exhibits floating planes of glass, pre-cast stone walls, and a series of translucent curving wood panels. Two towers on the outside house the chimes.

Bigelow Chapel is the winner of numerous awards for its innovative architecture including the 2006 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture and the 2004 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects Minnesota.